Strength
by Sophia Jane Marie
Summary: Moments in time of the women who struggle to be "normal" in a crazy world. It takes great strength- not always of a physical nature. *Trigger* (and rating) for some minor violence/assault implications. All the women related to the Avengers will be included (Darcy, Peggy, etc). Not necessarily in chronological order.
1. How Darcy Got Her Taser

This is my version of how Darcy got her taser. It was supposed to be shorter, and more humorous.

This will be a series of "drabbles" about all of the women connected to the Avengers in one way or another.

They won't come on a regular schedule.

*I don't own anything recognizable*

Also, I hadn't intended to go this deep, but I think I should add a **TRIGGER WARNING** sexual assault/rape mentioned, not graphic though, but trying to be safe.

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Darcy had a tendency to attract attention. Often she loved it; she lived for being the life of the party. Sometimes though, a girl just wanted a drink. Alone.

On those occasions she would wear her least flattering sweater, nurse a single beer, flash a "diamond" when approached and scat. Up to today, she had been fairly lucky, nothing more concerning than a toothless leer or mild groping that a firm slap could deter.

Today though, some big dude just wasn't taking "No." for an answer. Asshole.

She ducked into an alley, hoping to lose him, but it turned out to be a dead-end, like her phone that had died when she pulled it out to dial 911. Stupid, _stupid, STUPID. _She dug around in her purse, hoping for the bottle of Mace her friend a given her recently, but no such luck. _Damn._

"Silly guuurl," the drunk guy drawled behind her, "you can't run from me."

"Leave me the hell alone" Darcy hissed, searching desperately for some kind of weapon- a stone, a sliver of glass, _anything- _while keeping an eye on the approaching threat.

Darcy had never been one for the damsel-in-distress movies, but she wasn't a complete fool. She screamed, somewhere in the back of her mind she made a mental note to thank her mom for making her join a sorority, all those football games had _actually _ been worth something.

The majority of her brain was focused on dodging the now-angry drunk in front of her. While screaming.

Then her savior came.

Her savior was not a knight in shining armor.

Her savior looked more like a lady-in-waiting.

Waiting for her time to kill.

The first coherent thought in Darcy's mind was that she wanted to take self-defense lessons from the woman in front of her.

Because anyone who can take down a guy three times their size while wearing a _very _expensive dress and not even break a sweat was just. Damn. Awesome. And a fantastic role model.

Then the woman is crouching down in front of her and-

Wait, since when was she on the ground?!

This woman, Natalie leads her to the street, hands her a small black contraption and says, "Don't hurt yourself." A an afterthought, she adds "Or your friends."

Natalie looks closely at Darcy, searching her face. Finally, Darcy snaps back to reality and starts mumbling her thanks, her gratitude, offering assurances that she is fine, nothing had happened before Natalie arrived.

Natalie nods, asks for Darcy's address and hails a cab. Before she lets Darcy in, she has a few words with the driver, and passes over some cash.

As Darcy's cab rolls away, she watches Natalie pull out a cell phone and place a call, looking over her shoulder into the alley.

Darcy's "attacker" never gets another drink of alcohol. His DNA is matched to a few reported rapes, and once his face is in the paper, more women come forward. A striking woman with dark red hair leads the prosecution, the judge has never seen her before, but thinks she must be from another district, probably something to do with this becoming a high-profile case and all that. The defendant takes one look at her and pleads guilty. He still serves multiple life sentences.

Darcy studies the black thing she's been given, and realizes it must be a taser.

She names it Natalie. She secretly thinks of it as her guardian angel. _Arch -_angel.

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Let me know what you think!

Love, Jane


	2. How Maria Got Her Job

I'm trying to watch GIJane on youtube… This came to mind.

I know next to nothing about guns, so please… just pretend that it's a difficult shot but Maria is BA enough to make it… Cool? Cool.

I own nothing recognizable

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Maria Hill was not known for taking the easy way out. Nor was she known for questioning authority. She did, however, stand up for her friends, her family and those too lost to help themselves. Until her father punched her. After that she kept her mouth shut, and did as she was told.

She was told to get a "nice, quiet degree- maybe English?"

She joined the Marines. The ribbed her, calling her G.I. Jane.

She kept her head up, even when she was shoved into desk duty.

Fury recruited her after a firefight on base. Two died. She disabled the attacker. From thirty yards. With a borrowed pistol. And a fractured wrist.

"Someone had to take the shot, sir."

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So kind of odd. Whatevs, please review!


	3. How Peggy Got to Live on Her Own Terms

So I've made some changes to the summary and I edited the title of the last chapter.

I wasn't planning on naming all of the chapters "How _ Got Her _," but it works… so…

Anyways, if you recognize it, it isn't mine.

Please review- it means the universe- and all the alternate ones too!

I'm not sure that I'm satisfied with this, but I also don't know how I would change it.

I didn't mean for it to be quite so angsty- my apologies.

Again, please review

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Peggy had never considered herself shallow. She really had been touched by Steve's chivalry; it was honest, unlike some of the other men's. She hadn't gotten to her position by simpering and pausing for the door to be opened for her. She had, on more than one occasion, kicked open the door for herself (once or twice with a gun in hand).

All the same, when Steve stumbled out of the Vita-Ray machine, her breath caught for a moment too long.

So maybe she was a tad shallow.

She rationalized that _she _knew that he was still the same person as before the procedure- a truly good man.

She didn't let her thudding heart trip her though, the Red Skull needed to die, and until he did, her heart was only for her people.

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After that fateful night, after everything that had transpired- the kiss, the radio conversation, the promise she knew would be broken, the screaming silence that followed- after that, it took her a long time to pull herself together.

She managed, bit-by-bit she rebuilt her world, her home, her soul. She was never the same, and every time Stark found the slightest trace, the vaguest clue, she had to piece herself back together, but she survived.

She started S.H.I.E.L.D., she was on the first Council, she mentored hundreds of agents, she hand selected Fury as the Director over a decade before the tesseract ever threatened Earth again.

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Her niece rang her one day, and that day her world shifted. She thought her heart might stop.

But she was Peggy Carter and she was not going to give up her life before she saw the man who had influenced her every decision for seventy years.

When she saw him, she thought _his_ heart might stop. Seventy years had aged her, but in the first moments of their reunion, he showed it more than she did.

When he left, she stared for a long time at the door, not really seeing the peeling blue paint. Sharon eventually dragged her out of her reverie.

Peggy decided she was satisfied with her contribution to her world, and if fate had decided to keep her and Steve apart, so be it. She had done her share of staring fate down. It was Steve's job to live, and her job to give what guidance she could to those her sought her ought.

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A few years later she was buried with the flags of two countries, in her full S.H.E.I.L.D. uniform.


End file.
